TURKEY TO ENTER EU VIA SEAPORTS

GAZIANTEP (A.A) - 22.11.2010 - Preparations are underway for two ships that will carry floating exhibitions in order to promote Turkey and its EU membership bid at 15 seaports in 14 EU member countries.
In an exclusive interview with the AA, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ILOR Corporation and a coordinator for the ship project Oktay Ulkuguner said that works were going on to prepare the two ships that would be the greatest promotional tools ever used by Turkey in its EU process.
We believe that our project will make crucial contributions to the completion of EU negotiations successfully. Our two ships will promote Turkey at 15 seaports in 14 EU member countries and show that Turkey will not be a burden on the EU but rather will provide strength to the Union, Ulkuguner stressed.
This happens to be the project for Turkey. There is a place on these ships for everyone whose hearts are beating for Turkey. There have been important contributions to this project that will promote developed Turkey in the EU, Ulkuguner said.
We invite all public and private institutions interested in becoming parts of the ships to apply. The goal of our ships is to carry the photograph of Turkey as a country that has made crucial progress in all fields, Ulkuguner said.
With an average age of 28 years, Turkey has the youngest population in Europe. Our project will promote Turkey in EU ports with all of its synergy and energy, Ulkuguner underlined.

-SHIPS TO HOST 25,000-30,000 VISITORS AT EVERY SEAPORT-

The floating exhibition will be inaugurated on March 7, 2011 in Istanbul. The ships will depart from Istanbul on March 8 and complete their journey on April 21. One of the ships will actually carry the floating exhibition while the second ship will carry those participating in the organization. The journey's first destination will be Greece. Our journey will end in Sweden, Ulkuguner said.
Our ships will remain for two days at every seaport and we expect 25,000-30,000 visitors at each seaport, Ulkuguner said.
We have been receiving applications for the project since July, 2010. There have been very important participation so far. We expect the completion of all applications in the next two months. We will later begin promoting our project in locations which will be visited by the two ships. We will send invitations to a large group of people at those cities and publish ads in local newspapers. We will make use of billboards in respective cities to promote our project, Ulkuguner said.
Around 400 selective public and private institutions from Turkey will be a part of our project, Ulkuguner said.
Turkey's state-run TV channel TRT will make live broadcasts from each seaport and prepare a documentary that will be shown to the public in seven different parts, Ulkuguner said.
One of the ships will host concerts on Turkish music, introduce samples from the Turkish cuisine and hold fashion shows on Turkish textile products, Ulkuguner said.

-15 SEAPORTS IN 14 COUNTRIES-

The floating exhibition will travel around 12,000 miles to promote Turkey at 15 seaports in 14 countries. The ships will stay two days in each seaport, following the route from Istanbul to Piraeus, to Naples in Italy, to Marseille and Le Havre in France, to Barcelona in Spain, to Lisbon in Portugal, to London in Britain, to Anvers in Belgium, to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, to Hamburg in Germany, to Copenhagen in Denmark, to Gdansk in Poland, to Riga in Lithuania, to Helsinki in Finland, and to Stockholm in Sweden.
A Ro-Ro ship that was previously rented by International Road Transport Union (UND) will be used for the floating exhibition. The ship has a deck space of 12,000 square meters on its four floors.
The "Ankara Ferryboat", carrying representatives from the public and private sectors, exhibition officials, media members, artists and others, will accompany the Ro-Ro ship.
The floating exhibition is expected to reach 420 million European Union citizens out of a total of 500 million.
The floating exhibition will promote Turkey's history, geographical structure, structure of the state, Constitution, legal order, public services, macro economic developments in Turkey, Turkish industry, tourism potential, opportunities for direct investments, construction sector, energy, mining, agriculture and animal breeding, forestry, transportation, communications, educational institutions, science and health, as well as culture and arts.
Among the cultural exhibitions will be ones titled "Turkey with Photographs", "Anatolian Civilizations", "Visual Arts", "Traditional Turkish Handicrafts", and one on the paintings of elementary school students from both the EU and Turkey completed for a contest under the theme of "Peace and Brotherhood".